Unexpected Date
by kessilover
Summary: "I'm in a bit of trouble and I can use your help." She said in a rush. Merlin's date fails to show up . Luckily, his night is saved by a woman he's never seen before and whose night needs to be saved as well. Modern Mergana.


_**Obligatory disclaimer**_ :Merlin and all associated creative properties belong to BBC. I don't claim any said property as my own, and I make no monetary profit from this fan-made story. All creative property not associated with said channel belong to me, and their use is limited to my express permission. Thank you.

 **A/N :** The first story in three years. Please be nice to me.

* * *

It was all Gwaine's fault and Merlin was determined to make him pay for the embarrassment he was feeling at the moment.

Merlin checked the time again. His date, the woman Gwaine had set him up with, had not arrived yet. An hour had gone by and still there were no traces of her.

Shaking his head at his own stupidity for agree to his friend's proposal in the first place, Merlin decided to wait another fifteen minutes just in case. For all he knew, Vivian might have been caught up with something urgent. Merlin caught a sight of his waiter from the corner of his eye whispering with another waitress. The man was gesturing his way and he had no issue not being subtle about it.

His night was getting better and better. No doubt, his waiter was telling her about Merlin's awkward situation.

"Fifteen minutes my arse!" Merlin murmured under his breath. He shouldn't be waiting for Vivian. He had been trying to reach her for an hour now and she hadn't responded to any of his calls. He should have known something was not right when she had told him not to pick her up and that she'd get to the restaurant on her own.

Just as Merlin was about to grab his mobile phone and get up, a raven-haired young woman suddenly appeared. She took the seat across from his.

Merlin would have jumped in excitement if the woman had been his date. Unless Vivian had decided to do a complete makeover which of course would explain her lateness.

But Merlin was sure she wasn't Vivian. "Excuse me, I think…"

She said in a rush, "I'm in a bit of trouble and I can use your help."

That was the last thing Merlin expected to hear. "I beg your pardon! Is this a joke? " Merlin looked around him. If someone was trying to be funny, it wouldn't be on his account.

The woman grabbed his hand and shook it, "I'm Morgana." She introduced herself, hesitantly. "I'm terribly sorry -"

Merlin tried to extract his hand but she grabbed it with both of her hands, squeezing a bit tight. "Please, just hear me out." She didn't even give him a chance to protest or even think about what she had just asked of him. "Do you see that couple over there? The blond man and the dark skinned woman standing in the far left by the window?"

Merlin's eyes were quick to find the man and woman, they looked like they were waiting for their table. "Yeah."

Before he could ask who there were, she continued. "That's my brother and his girlfriend."

He looked back at her, locking gaze. Merlin still didn't get a clear answer as to why she was at his table. "And it's an issue to you because?"

"I sort of crashed their dinner date and it turns out Arthur…my brother," she clarified when Merlin frowned at the unfamiliar name, "…is going to propose to Gwen."

"The girlfriend." Merlin said, eyes briefly went towards Arthur and Gwen.

"Yeah."

Merlin appreciated the explanation she provided but the entire thing was still vague and unclear to him. He had so many questions, so he started with obvious one. "May I have my hand back?"

Morgana realized that she was still holding his hand in hers and quickly let it go. "Sorry." She said sheepishly.

Merlin took a deep breath and took a moment to take it all in. Things happened so fat and his mind was still trying to make sense of everything. He could be sceptical about the whole matter, for all he knew, this Morgana could be playing a game on him. It would be foolish of him to believe her immediately. He would not do anything until all made sense to him. "If your brother is going to propose, why did you come with them?"

"Well-" She began to say but stopped and pointed toward the bottle of water. "May I?"

"Sure," He permitted with a shake of his shoulders. First the table and now the water.

What else would she be taking next?

She poured a glass of water and took a sip from it before she carried on. "I didn't want to have dinner by myself and when I heard they were going out, I invited myself."

What a lame excuse! In fact, it was so lame that he actually considered believing her. " And they just agreed?"

"Gwen has a good heart and she cannot say no to me."

"And your brother?"

"He didn't know I was joining them until he and Gwen got here." Morgana sighed, glass still in hand "Gwen didn't tell him I was coming and then-"

He cut her off, understanding what she'd say next, "he told you he's going to propose."

She shook her head, "More like he sent me a text threatening to kill me if I don't come up with an excuse to leave. I was going to call my secretary and fake a work problem but I heard the waiters talking about a poor lad who seemed to have gotten stood up."

Merlin's eyes widened. They waiters! As in more than the two he has spotted earlier! And they were already talking about him. Just great. His night had just became much worse. "Damn!" He wanted to hole to swallow him. "I should have left when she didn't answer any of my calls." It came as a whine and for a second he didn't care until he saw her look at him with quirked eyebrow. Embarrassment came flooding right back.

"I always wanted to be a heroine so decided to come to your rescue. I thought I'll do us both a favour." She said with a smile and he realized she was trying to make him feel better.

Had he not been irritated with her few minutes ago? When did they start warming up to one another?

He'd think about it later.

Merlin returned the smile but refrained from thanking her. He'd delay the gratitude until he was sure of her story. "You were just afraid of his threat."

Morgana laughed and he insistently loved the sound of her laughter. "Afraid of Arthur? No never. It's actually the other way around."

"You don't look like you can be-" Merlin paused. He caught a sight of Morgana's brother, Arthur, approaching their table.

Morgana frowned when he stopped talking. By the time she realized that he was looking at something over her shoulder. Arthur had already reached them. "Hello," He said, eyes landed on Merlin before Arthur averted his gaze to Morgana. "What are you doing here?"

She offered him a wide smile. "Arthur, this is …" She glanced his way. Merlin told them his name and she continued, "This is the man the waiters have been talking about."

"The one that got stood up?"

"Yes."

Shocked and uncomfortable, Merlin grumbled.

"Tough luck, mate." Arthur said as he extracted his hand.

Merlin took his hand and shook it. "It doesn't look like my luck will be getting any better." After he said that, he shot Morgana a look.

Arthur simply nodded his head ignoring what Merlin said and looked once again at his sister. "What are you doing here, Morgana?"

"You told me to find an excuse to leave."

"The restaurant." Arthur hissed, eyes flashing with irritation. "Not the table."

"Hey, listen…" They both ignored Merlin. Too caught up in their own light dispute.

Morgana waved him off, "Relax, Arthur. I got this under control."

"Really?" Arthur taunted her, "And what should I tell Gwen when she asks about you?"

As much as Merlin enjoyed listening to them banter like two toddlers, he thought he ought to warn them of the upcoming danger. "You better think of something quick because she's coming over."

"Who?" The siblings asked, confused.

"The girlfriend."

They both looked to their left and sure enough Gwen was coming their way. They both gasped, not expecting that.

"Play along, please" Morgana said gently. Arthur on the other hand glared at Merlin. "Do what she's said."

In any other situation, Merlin would have been offended with the way they were both throwing orders his way but given the current circumstance, he was willing to let it slide. The blond man was about to propose and Morgana was trying not to ruin it for her brother.

"Don't worry," He assured them with a tight smile.

This was not how expected the night to progress. He should have said no when Gwaine told him to ask Vivian out.

He doubted his night could get any worse.

"Hello," Gwen greeted gently and sent Arthur and Morgana a look. "Is everything all right?"

Arthur wrapped his hand around the woman's waist pulling her closer to him. "Everything is fine. I was just checking on Morgana."

Gwen glanced between Merlin and Morgana before her gaze settled back on him. "I don't believe we've met before."

Arthur quickly jumped in, "He's a friend of Morgana."

Merlin began to introduce himself. The last thing he wanted was for Morgana to announce to Gwen that he was the guy that the entire restaurant's staff had been talking about. "I am-"

And of course given his bad luck that night, the two siblings cut him off.

"Merlin." Morgana said and at the same time Arthur told her. "George."

Merlin's eyes widened in disbelief. Had he not told Arthur his name just few minutes ago? Did the man forget so quickly or did he simply not care about him?

Perhaps, the man was a bit too nervous to think straight.

Gwen, on the other hand, looked confused with conflicted response she got.

"I am Merlin." He told her and reached out his hand. Gwen hesitated for a split second before taking it.

There was a small pause during which all four just stared at one another. Luckily it was Gwen who broke it, clearly not understanding fully what was going on around her. "I'm not trying to be rude or anything but…what's going here? I thought you'd be having dinner with us, Morgana."

Since out of the four of them, Gwen was the only one unaware of Merlin's predicament, Arthur saw fit to inform her of it. "Merlin's date didn't show up and Morgana saw him and decided to keep him company. Cheer him up a bit."

"He's the one-" Gwen didn't finished the sentence when she noticed that Merlin hid his face between his hands.

"Would you please stop telling people that?" He mumbled and lowered his hands.

Gwen tilted her head, sending him an apologetic small smile. "I am sorry to hear that."

Merlin felt her hand on his shoulder, she gave him a light squeeze. "It's not your fault. You didn't do anything."

"I stood Arthur up in our first date."

"What?" Arthur exclaimed, shocked. "I thought you were too sick to make it."

Gwen looked at his sister, "Morgana told me not go."

Arthur narrowed his eyes, "Why would you do that?"

Morgana just shrugged her shoulders as of it was nothing, "Not now, I'll tell you later."

Merlin felt out of breath and he abruptly stood up. "I'll be right back." He rushed in the direction of the loo, ignoring the looks they sent him. He needed to think clearly.

Merlin didn't know how long he stared at his reflexion in the mirror. He wondered if he could just leave directly without returning back to the madness that awaited him at his table. But then he remembered that he forgot to grab his mobile phone and jacket. Merlin growled and slammed his hand on the bathroom sink. "Fuck! Gwaine, I am going to kill you."

He gave himself few more minutes to calm down. He'd get out, collect his things and he'd just leave the restaurant. Hopefully, this night would be nothing but a distant memory few months from now.

When Merlin ventured out of the bathroom, Gwen had taken his seat and was talking with Morgana. Arthur was nowhere in sight. Morgana spotted him and told Gwen who all but jumped out of the seat. "I'm sorry for crowding you and taking your seat."

"It's okay." Merlin sighed, "Actually-"

As he was about to announce that he would be leaving, Arthur appeared by his side. "Come on, Gwen. We should goto our table."

"It was nice to meet you, Merlin." Gwen told him.

Merlin smiled, "Likewise."

The duo retreated back to the table and Merlin eyed his phone.

Morgana asked, "Are you ready to order?"

"Morgana..." It was the first time that he said her name.

"Look I understand fully well the kind of situation I put you in but let's just wait for half an hour. They'll be too busy in their world to notice us leaving." She reasoned, "and I really don't like eating on my own and I am certain you eat as well. What could go wrong with just dinner?"

Merlin searched her face for any signs that could get him to refuse her offer. He saw none and now he was sure that she was telling the truth.

The whole situation was certainly awkward and weird. However, he was willing to agree to dinner with her.

"Okay. I can do dinner."

Morgana smiled broadly as he took his seat again. A waiter came over, handing them the menus.

"I already know what I'm ordering." Morgana informed the man and placed the menu aside without even glancing at it.

Merlin concluded that Morgana must come frequently to the restaurant.

Unlike her, Merlin didn't know what he was going to eat.

"Any idea why your date didn't show up?" She asked, curious.

He peered up to look at her. He had been waiting for Vivian for an hour and that had given him enough time to come up with a list of reasons for her to bail on him. "Gwaine is dating Vivian's flatmate and he told me I should ask her out because according to him Vivian fancies me. Well, at least that's what Rebecca, Vivian's flatmate, said."

Morgana scrawled, "If she fancies you then where is she?"

Merlin took one last look at the menu, making his mind about he'd order. "I'm guessing Gwaine found a way to shag the two of them." He sat the list aside, to his left. "At the same time." He added the last part as an afterthought.

Morgana choked on the air she was inhaling. "Dear God?"

The corners of his lips curled up. "Gwaine can be very persuasive and charming. " His smile widened. Perhaps, he should stop thinking about Vivian and focus his attention on the woman he was actually having dinner with. "Besides, I got my evening saved by a beautiful woman. My own hero. Superman to my Lois Lane."

Morgana tilted her head, "I am more of a batman."

"So, that makes me catwoman or..."Merlin hummed, thinking. "Bruce Wayne had a lot of women in his life."

"I think you are more like an Alfred." She teased.

Merlin laughed taken aback by that. "That's just mean."

"On the contrary, I think you should consider it as a compliment."

He placed his elbows on the table and leaned on them. "If you said Selina , I would have seen it as such. But Alfred is an old man and Selina Kyle is hot."

Morgana mimicked his actions, leaning over. "Let's not forget sexy."

"Super sexy." He confirmed.

They both laughed at that.

Their waiter came and took their orders. Merlin saw Morgana look over her shoulder to the left in the direction of her brother and his soon to be fiance. He saw her sigh at the couple. "You must happy for them."

"Uhm..." Distracted, she turned over to face him. "I beg your pardon?"

"Are you happy with Arthur and Gwen? The engagement?"

Her face lit up as she beamed at him. Merlin knew the answer before she even spoke. "Those two made me believe that true love does exist and if you are patient enough, it'll find you."

It was an interesting notion to think about love that way. He'd always known that falling in love wasn't an every day occurrence. But to Morgana, love was something that happens to you, not something you seek and he'd never looked at it from that angle. "And did it find you?"

Her smiled wavered slightly but didn't disappear entirely. "If I have, would I be here?"

He supposed she was right. "Love is not easy."

"No one says it is." She agreed. "And since you are here, I'm guessing..."

"I haven't found _The One_ either."

The mood had changed when they had started talking about love and it was as though she wanted to lighten it up because her eyes lit up with mischief. Morgana offered him a crooked smile. "Perhaps it's Vivian."

Merlin caught was she was doing and thought he should do the same. Still, his mouth moved before his mind was able to weight the words he was about to say. "Perhaps it's you."

It threw them both by surprise. Morgana recovered quickly. She leaned back into her chair and crossed her arms across her chest. "Perhaps." she said slowly.

Merlin on the other hand mumbled few words of apology. Luckily, he was saved from further humiliation when the waiter came with their orders. After he left, the smug look on her face persisted. She was loving how flustered he'd been. "You're not going to let this go, aren't you?" he asked her.

"I don't know Merlin. I think this relationship is moving too fast for us right now. Let's just slow the pace. Keep something to talk about for the second date."

It was Merlin's turn to quirk up an eyebrow. "Second date! What makes you think there'll be one?"

"A hunch."

They smiled but left it at that. Merlin felt his heart pounding hard in his chest and he was sure it was because of Morgana.

They started to eat and the conversation seems to flow smoothly and naturally. Soon they began talking about their jobs.

"I work for Pendragon and LeFay consulting. You heard of it?"

 _What are the odds?_ Merlin thought.

"I applied for position there. About three weeks ago." he informed her, "But I didn't get it."

"uhm," She hummed, reaching for the glass of wine, "Any idea why?"

Do recruiters ever tell why you didn't the job? Some of them do.

"No. Not really. I didn't even get a response back."

Morgana sat the glass back on the table after taking a sip. "What's the position?"

"Data analyst."

"I can see if the position is still available, if you want. Get you an interview perhaps?"

"Really?" Merlin couldn't believe his ears "Do you know someone from HR?"

There was something in the way she smiled that told him that she was keeping something from him. "I can ask around."

Merlin didn't know what to say, except "Thank you."

"There's no need to thank me, all I'm going to do is check if the job is still available. "

"That's more than enough and you don't need to get me an interview, I can reapply for it just in case they didn't see my resume. I can handle the rest."

"If that's what you want."

They both returned to their meals talking about other things. The further the talked, the more Merlin realized how smart she was, not to mention witty. He saw her glimpse from time to time in the direction of Arthur and Gwen's table and he knew that she didn't want to miss the marriage proposal.

"I'll keep an eye on them, if you want to." he offered. "Or just switch places "

"I'm here to have dinner with you."She smiled warmly,"But it'll be nice of you to tell me when he's ready to propose. Thanks."

He learned few things about her. Her family was a raging mess and from what she told him it was too complicated for a first date.

"Maybe you can tell me about it at the next one." Merlin joked reminding her of what she had said before.

"Maybe." Was all she said.

Right before their desert arrived, Merlin saw Arthur reach for Gwen's hand. He assumed that he was about to pop the question.

"it's happening." he told her and her eyes widened and whirled around to get a better look.

Just as he said that, his phone started to vibrate. It was Gwaine. He glanced at Morgana. She was too focused on the couple.

"I have to take this."

She looked between him and the phone. "Yeah. Go ahead." then her gaze was back on her brother.

Merlin got up to answer. A round of applause erupted around him.

Gwen said _yes._ He smiled as he answered the phone call. "What's up mate?"

When he got back, he saw Morgana and Gwen in a tight embrace, Arthur standing close by with a huge smile on, his face. He approached the newly engaged couple and offered his congrats.

Standing there with the other three, Merlin felt like he was imposing on a private matter. It did look like Morgana needed to play a part anymore. So he assumed the dinner was over. It was time to say his goodnights.

"Hey, Morgana." he tried to gain her attention. Luckily he was successful.

She hugged Gwen one last time and shared a high five with her brother. She moved away from them. "Everything all right?"

"It was Gwaine. The friend I told you about." He thought he should clarify in case she forgot the name.

Morgana nodded her head, "Did he have a great night?"

He wished he could say he had. "Unfortunately, no. Vivian was in car accident on her way here."

Shocked, she reached for his hand. "Is she okay?"

He quickly assured her, "Yes. She and the cabbie were taken to the hospital. There were no serious injuries. Still they had to run few tests to make sure everything is okay. She'll be released in an hour."

"And you have to go." she concluded sadly.

He tilted his head wishing he could tell her that he really didn't want to go. "Yeah."

"it's okay. We can continue this another time."

Merlin was over the moon. "Definitely. If you can give me your mobile number? I am going to save it under Batman."

She laughed. "And I'll save yours under Alfred."

"I thought we agreed I am more of a catwoman."

"Call me and I'll change it to catwoman. Deal?"

"Deal."

They shook hands.

"Goodnight, Merlin."

"Goodnight, Morgana."

* * *

The next day, he called to set up another date and an hour after that, she called him to tell him that the position had been filled.

Three years later, he proposed in the very same restaurant where that had their unofficial first date.

* * *

 **A/N:** _I hope you guys liked it. Leave a review if you did._


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